Ooghoek Primary School were crowned champions in the soccer category
By: Refilwe Sebola
The third annual Ray Mdaka Primary School sports tournament held at Mashoro Secondary School sports ground in Ga-Mokgwathi village in Bolobedu over the weekend was a resounding success.
Soccer and netball enthusiasts from nearby villages gathered to enjoy top-notch sports entertainment. The tournament, organized by Ray Mdaka, the current South African national under 20 head coach, exceeded all expectations.
Eight primary schools from the Mawa circuit participated in the well-organized and well-sponsored event. The participating schools were Mawa Primary School, Ratseke, Miragoma, Ooghoek, Mokgwathi, Vallambrosa, Taulome, and Masefora
The games kicked off with the quarterfinal stage on Friday, the 14th of June, featuring both soccer and netball matches. In the soccer category, Ratseke Primary School caused an upset by securing a crucial victory against the home side, Mokgwathi Primary, defeating them 5-4 in penalties. Miragoma Primary beat Vallambrosa 2-0, while Ooghoek and Mawa also secured their places in the semifinals with 2-0 and 9-8 victories against Taulome and Masefora, respectively. On Saturday, Mawa beat Ratseke 1-0 while Ooghoek primary beat Miragoma by the same score margin to advance to the finals. Ooghoek were crowned champions in football following their convincing 3-0 victory over Mawa primary, while Vallambrosa beat the home side, Mokgwathi, to be crowned champions in the netball category. Keitumetse Maphalle won the Player of the Tournament award, while Reitumetse Ndlovu took home the Netball Best Player award. These awards were generously sponsored by FNB.
The soccer champions, Ooghoek, and netball champions Vallembrosa, together with their runners-up Mawa and Mokgwathi, each received brand new kits. Only the champions received trophies and medals. The two kits for the champions were sponsored by Sunbake, while the other two kits for the runners-up, along with trophies and medals, were sponsored by the Department of Sports and Farpost news publication.
Paint Pot in Tzaneen sponsored the foundation with a Gazibo, 16 balls for both netball and football, sign-boards for all eight schools, water bottles for players, and an R2000 voucher for winners of the Facebook competition. Fortunate Naledi Foundation sponsored 80 children with school shoes The marketing manager of the Ray Mdaka Foundation, Matimba Makaringe, expressed gratitude to all the event sponsors for their contribution to the success of the event and invited prospective sponsors to reach out to them. She added, “We are overwhelmed by the success of this year’s tournament, and we have witnessed a substantial improvement in the running of our programs. We take immense pride in the growth of the tournament and extend our heartfelt appreciation to everyone who contributed to its success.”
Vallambrosa Primary School netball team was crowned Netball Champions.